Love’s Long Journey

Sometimes we catch a glimpses of God’s spectacular divine love through the eyes of those we love. Like when my son tips his head and says, “I love you Mommy.” Today is a day for celebration of love because well…it’s Valentines day.

Love, like I mentioned, is for some a hidden jewel surrounded by mist, layers of dirt or miles of mistakes left stranded behind them. I know I felt that way for a time. My relationships, years ago, had gone sour. I was lonely. I was afraid. It seemed like God sent me to a love wilderness. I was tempted, tried and hungry for something new. It was a very dark and yet wonderful time for me. After a while, I realized I wanted only God for reassurance, instead of a spouse. I needed only Him to tell me I was going to be “okay” for me to believe it. I began depending on God like I’d never known how before. Day after day I studied His Word and grew stronger. Slowly the mist cleared and I realized I was surrounded by relationship landmines. The devil had boxed me in with my own words.

“My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thous has stricken thy hand with a stranger, thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.” Proverbs 6:2-3

I was trapped by obligations. People only wanted to steal my time, joy, and faith. Those months were tough, because I slowly took count of the people who would stand by me through anything and loved me with the love of God. I learned that my words were powerful. I began taking what I said far more seriously. I decided I would only tell people what was absolutely true and loving. What a journey! It made me think about my words.

“That we [henceforth] be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, [even] Christ:” Ephesians 4:14-15

If you spent a day letting God pick your friends, who would they be?

I can’t tell you that it was easy or that I saw immediate results. If anything I thought everyone was abandoning me, and that made me sad. Then I realized that not everyone was gone. A few people were still there. They were the tough people, the salt of the earth people and they had been watching me from the sidelines. They were sometimes the quiet ones and sometimes the way-hey too direct-for-comfort ones. What a revelation! From that point on, I cherished those honest relationships and endeavored to honestly love them with the love of God. Wow! There is nothing like the trust from an honest friend.

People change over time. Some of the ones that left, are back with gusto and I’m soooo blessed to have them. Seasons in everyone’s life change and some of those I was near are now far away. The greatest part of all of this is that God has given us eternity together. He’s going to fix all our perspectives on the way up too.

Our goal is to trust God more with each passing day. It is a journey towards that glorious day God is going to send His son back to gather us all together. It may be a long journey, but it can be full of God’s divine love.